SMAD Signaling and Redox Imbalance Cooperate to Induce Prostate Cancer Cell Dormancy
Researchers recently showed in vitro that clonogenicity of prostate cancer cells is regulated by a dormancy phenomenon that is strongly induced when cells are cultured both at low cell density and in a slightly hypertonic medium. Here, they characterized by RT-qPCR a genetic expression signature of this dormant state which combines the presence of both stemness and differentiation markers. [Cell Cycle] Abstract

CPRIT Awards 58 Research Grants to Advance the Fight Against Cancer
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded four grants through its product development research program and 54 grants through its academic research program. With a total requested amount of $48.5 million, these grants will fund projects focused on taking promising cancer treatments and therapies from the laboratory into clinical practice. [Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas] Press Release

Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine Survives Biotech Bust
The first therapeutic cancer vaccine to be approved in the United States will stay on the market despite the financial collapse of the trailblazing biotechnology company that developed it. The vaccine, Provenge, was purchased on 23 February by Valeant Pharmaceuticals of Laval, Canada, which paid US$415 million for the prostate-cancer treatment and other assets of the bankrupt Dendreon Corporation. [Nature News] Editorial